Medical marijuana plant proposed

BRAMPTON— A medical marijuana production firm has announced the purchase of a 300,000-square-foot facility in Brampton.

Canadian Cannabis Corporation (CCC) announced in a news release it had bought a building at 102 Rutherford Rd. S. The firm’s headquarters is listed as 100 Rutherford Rd. S in an industrial/commercial area south of Queen Street.

The property was purchased for $13,885,000 under a one-year term mortgage.

The Company said it has invested $4.4 million in the purchase of the building close to the highway and Pearson airport. It’s a location the company believes will enhance export capabilities.

“CCC believes this facility offers the ideal structure for a large-scale medical marijuana production plant,” President and CEO Benjamin Ward said in a news release. “Among many other beneficial characteristics, the facility is close in proximity to Laboratory and Quality Assurance Labs and has direct access to an urban skilled workforce.”

The facility, listed for sale or lease by DTZ, is described as an industrial building on a 14.8-acre site.

According to the City of Brampton, the municipality received a notification of intent to establish a commercial facility at 100 Rutherford Rd. S. on March18. The municipality issued a Zoning Compliance response “confirming that a commercial production facility is permitted (at that location),” Megan Ball, a city spokesperson, said in an email.

“Other than the Zoning Compliance response, no other formal approvals have been provided by the City of Brampton,” Ball said. “As of date, no building permit applications have been received for this property.”

The city’s role is limited to Zoning compliance and processing building permit applications. Health Canada acts as regulator for medical marijuana producers in Canada.

A year ago, the federal government’s new Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations came into effect. Health Canada got out of the business of growing and distributing marijuana for medical purposes and implemented regulations to create a new, commercial industry responsible for production and distribution.

Producers must be licensed and comply with regulatory requirements such as quality control standards, record-keeping of all activities as well as inventories of marijuana, and physical security measures.

Marijuana for medical purposes has to be distributed to registered clients via secure courier and residential, storefront or retail production operations would not be permitted under the new regulations.

Health Canada currently has a list of 13 authorized licensed producers. Canadian Cannabis Corporation is not currently one of them.

“CCC is currently in the advanced stages of the (Health Canada) licensing process and we are continuing an active dialogue with Health Canada as we work toward the approvals on the application that we have submitted,” said Ward.

The company said it has taken possession of the Brampton facility and started Phase One of a re-purposing effort to meet production needs.

Re-purposing is needed to meet Health and Welfare Canada security standards, the company indicated.

This first construction stage is intended to include all security and preparation work to have 120,000 square feet initially available for the cultivation of Medical Grade Marijuana, according to the firm.

When fully built, the Brampton site is expected to allow a maximum of about 600,000 square feet in production space on two levels. Although the company does not currently intend to build out the entire facility, the company said it expects to revisit plans if demand of medical marijuana justifies expanding production.

According to Health Canada, before a license is issued the government conducts a site inspection to ensure compliance with regulations. Producers are also required to notify local municipal, police and fire officials about intentions to apply for a Health Canada licence.

The Canadian Cannabis Corp. is listed on the NASDAQ as Gold Part Payday Inc. (GPAY), which was founded this year. According to the company’s investment presentation, it is seeking a commercial license to produce 330,000 pounds of cannabis annually.